Tuesday marks the last day to get in your ballots for this year's important primary election.

We want to encourage all of you who haven't voted yet to do so today or tomorrow.

There are several extremely important parts of this year's new, and improved, "top two" ballot.

The new election system allows citizens to vote for their favorite candidate, regardless of party. The two candidates who receive the most votes will move on to the fall general election, also regardless of party.

This system means it's possible that two candidates from the same party could square off come November, a possibility in the 40th District state Senate race, where democrats Ken Henderson and Kevin Ranker have both received strong backing and hope to carry on. Republican Steven Van Luven will have something to say about that, though. Being the only candidate on the ballot for that race who claims allegiance to the GOP should mean he receives strong support from all Republicans in the Democrat-leaning district. It's simply impossible to tell how that race will shake out for November at this point, and every vote will be important.

As important is the race for Whatcom County Superior Court Judge. This primary election will decide whether incumbent judge Chuck Snyder is re-elected, or replaced by well-known attorney Doug Shepherd. Judicial elections are different. And because there are only two candidates for the judicial race, it will be decided in August and will not be on the November ballot.

Both Snyder and Shepherd are boosted by strong local backing, making this perhaps the most contested judicial race in the county in many years.

There are many candidates for statewide races such as governor. If a minor candidate is going to upset front-runners Chris Gregoire, the incumbent, or Republican challenger Dino Rossi, it will have to be in the primary. With only two candidates making it on to the November ballot, it's now or never for those who are planning an upset.

All of this means your primary vote is more important than ever before in Washington. Please drop your ballots in the mail today, or take it to one of the drop sites on Tuesday, including the Auditor's Office in the Whatcom County Courthouse, Blaine City Hall, the Everson Fire Station, the Ferndale Library, the Kendall Fire Station and the Lynden Library.

The first results will be released at 8:45 p.m. Tuesday. We can't wait to see how you voted.

>>Primary election day

Ballots must be postmarked by Tuesday, Aug. 19, or dropped off at one of six locations in Whatcom County on Tuesday.

PORT-WESTERN PLAN MAY COME TO A VOTE

After talking for several months, representatives of the Port of Bellingham and Western Washington University have come up with a plan to try and lure private development dollars to help Western build on the Bellingham waterfront.

Tuesday, port commissioners will talk about whether to create "Viking Development," a joint venture with the university. They may vote on making the partnership final.

Officials say some of the details are still to be worked out, such as the final budget and the bylaws of the development cooperative. The board of "Viking Development" would include the university's president, the port's executive director, a port commissioner, a university trustee and one more person.

The goal is to find money and backing for Western's plan to build a new home for Huxley College of the Environment and a couple other university departments on the former Georgia-Pacific Corp. mill site.

Western officials see the development as a way to get environmental students, in particular, close to areas where they can do field research. They also want to have better links between the campus and community.

Port officials consider Western's interest a key component to the plan for rebuilding the former G-P site into a new, vibrant waterfront area.

>>Port of Bellingham commissioner's meeting

3 p.m. Tuesday Aug. 19 in the conference room of the Harbor Center, 1801 Roeder Ave.